Technical Papers

DO-330/ED-215 Benefits of the New Tool Qualification Document

As part of the DO-178C/ED-12C revision effort, a new document Software Tools Qualification Considerations (DO-330/ED-215) was developed. Its goal is both to replace the software tool qualification guidance of DO-178B/ED-12B and also to enable and encourage the use of this “mature” guidance outside the airborne domain. Since it may be used independently, DO-330/ED-215 is not considered as a supplement to DO-178C/ED-12C; it is thus titled differently from the specialized technology supplements.

The purpose of this document is to describe how DO-330/ED-215 impacts the current tool qualification approach of DO-178B/ED-12B and how it provides more relevant guidance for both tool users and tool providers.

We first review the rationale for a Tool Qualification document. But before the application of DO-330/ED-215, a fundamental pre-condition is to establish for the project the tool qualification criteria and the Tool Qualification Levels (TQLs). As an example, we show how DO-178C/ED-12C determines the criteria and TQLs for the airborne domain. In this domain, the criteria are based on the possible impact of a tool error on the software life cycle processes.

We then highlight the main impact of DO-330/ED-215 on current practice, and provide the relevant information to help the reader to apply this new guidance.

Some supporting information is provided in an appendix of DO-330/ED-215. We describe one of the most important topics, addressing the possible certification credit when using a qualified AutoCode Generator (ACG).

The author, Frédéric Pothon ACG Solutions, and several of the contributors and reviewers participated in the DO-178C/ED-12C working group and subcommittees.